Taken?
by Nil Smoot
Summary: When Arin and Suzy get into a fight that lasts several days, Dan finds solace in going to the coffee shop every day, just to get away. One day, a woman at the coffee shop notices that Dan is being followed and offers her home to him, thinking the person a stalker. What happens when someone calls the police thinking he was abducted?


Suzy and Arin walked into the building, Suzy fuming and Arin red-faced with shame. "You're fucking kidding me right now," Suzy screamed. She couldn't believe what her husband just told her.

"I said I was sorry," Arin mumbled indignantly.

"Sorry doesn't fuckin' excuse what you did!" She was incredulous. Was he seriously still trying to make excuses?

"I swear to god it was an accident," he tried defending himself, but to no avail.

"An accident, a god-fucking accident. Really? How was it an accident, enlighten me," she countered condescendingly.

"I was drunk, I didn't know what was happening!" he whined.

"Just… quit making excuses. I'm tired of this. I'm gonna go stay with Ross and Holly," she sighed.

"Babe, please," he pleaded quietly.

"No, once you get your shit together I MIGHT consider coming back," she fumed and stormed out the door. The office was deathly quiet, the few people who witnessed the fight were too confused with what just happened to say anything.

The following days, Suzy and Arin would enter the building at separate times, see each other, and the air would immediately go stale. _Oh my god, I can't handle this, it's too fuckin' stressful here._ Danny thought when Suzy and Arin had got into yet another argument over seemingly nothing. "Hey, I'm going to get some coffee, I'll be back soon," Danny commented to Barry as he was leaving the building. He headed down to the nearest coffee shop and stayed there for a while to get away from the situation. When he got back, he noticed that Arin was sitting on the grump couch with his head in his hands and Suzy was nowhere in sight. "Hey, dude, you wanna record some grumps?" he asked lightly. Arin just shook his head, not looking at him. "Alright," Dan sighed.

Everyone in the office had already got dozens of tweets questioning the lack of videos, so many had just gotten off their social media altogether. Yet, neither Suzy nor Arin were ready to talk about their fight to the public, so fans were only left to wonder. The grumps couldn't even upload old pre-recorded footage because of the effect the fight had on everyone in the office.

On a particularly stressful Wednesday, Dan sat in the kitchen of the office. _I don't think I can work like this, I need a break._ He thought. He got up and walked past Ross, who was just staring at the computer screen, either bored or spaced out.

"Hey Dan, where ya goin'?" he asked in a far-off voice.

"Nowhere special, just getting some coffee, you want anything?" Dan asked nonchalantly.

"Nah, I'm alright," Ross muttered.

As Dan got to the coffee shop and ordered, he noticed a girl, barely older than 18, on her laptop staring at him intently. When she noticed Dan's eyes on her, she moved her hair out of her eyes and began typing something, probably in an attempt to look busy. He got his coffee and sat down, keeping a bit of a wary eye on the woman, afraid that she was some sort of stalker or even worse, wanted to talk about the lack of uploads.

A short woman with medium black hair sat down next to him and gave him a pleasant smile. "Hey babe, sorry I'm late," she chimed happily. He gave her a confused look, and she leaned in to whisper to him, "Look at the napkin." She then planted a kiss on his cheek and smiled. He looked at the napkin she had placed in front of him, _that woman on the computer has been following you all week_ was written on it. She leaned in close to Dan and started speaking in a hushed tone to him, smiling like she was flirting with him. "If you don't feel safe, you can come back to my place with me," she offered softly.

"Are you trying to get into my pants?" Dan joked with an impish grin.

Her smile just barely faltered at his comment and she whispered, "No, I'm being serious." Dan gave her a skeptical look, then barely glanced at the girl who had resumed staring at them.

"Why should I trust you?" he questioned almost playfully.

"You've seen her, too," she offered. Danny thought back and realized, he had seen this girl following him for quite a while. He realized that the girl probably wanted to ask him why they hadn't uploaded since Arin and Suzy's fight, and he did not want to deal with that at the moment. He considered this woman's proposition, realizing that if he did accept, he could probably drop off the radar, if only for a little while.

"Okay. I'll probably just leave later tonight," he stated.

She shrugged and leaned back, "That's fine with me." As she stood up, she extended her hand to him. He took her hand and they walked out of the shop together, appearing as a couple heading home after a quick coffee meeting.


End file.
